Leighton Andrews
@leightonandrews.bsky.social
Prof Cardiff Uni. Ex Education Minister then Public Service Minister in Welsh Government. Ex-Chair, Cardiff City FC Community Foundation.
Books:Ministerial Leadership; Facebook, the Media and Democracy.
Cymro/Welsh.
Substack: ukania.substack.com
Books:Ministerial Leadership; Facebook, the Media and Democracy.
Cymro/Welsh.
Substack: ukania.substack.com
Pinned
Welcome to Ukania! | Leighton Andrews | Substack
Notes from a country in denial. Click to read "Welcome to Ukania!", by Leighton Andrews, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
Ukania.substack.com
For new followers, as well as my academic work, I write a weekly Substack on politics and sometimes tech regulation.
Ukania.substack.com
Ukania.substack.com
Very useful from @a-b-evans.bsky.social - something I will be looking at in more detail in my book on the making of the Welsh Government.
My new article in the latest issue of the Welsh History Review looks at the role the Welsh Assembly’s body corporate structure (with no legal separation between the ‘executive’ and the Assembly) played in this constitutional instability www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/u... #senedd #devolution 2/3
January 6, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Very useful from @a-b-evans.bsky.social - something I will be looking at in more detail in my book on the making of the Welsh Government.
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
For those interested in this chaotic period in Welsh political history, I've previously written about this long annus horribilis for Welsh #devolution - which began with Ron Davies's moment of madness in 1998 and ended with Alun Michael's resignation & replacement by Rhodri Morgan in 2000: #Senedd
Birth pangs or a honeymoon from hell? The long annus horribilis for Welsh devolution, 1998–2000
2024 marks twenty-five years since the first elections to, and meeting of, the National Assembly for Wales. The Assembly had been established by the narrowest of margins at a referendum in 1997. Ho...
www.tandfonline.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:24 PM
For those interested in this chaotic period in Welsh political history, I've previously written about this long annus horribilis for Welsh #devolution - which began with Ron Davies's moment of madness in 1998 and ended with Alun Michael's resignation & replacement by Rhodri Morgan in 2000: #Senedd
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
Interesting, for devolution anoraks/political historians, piece on the mystery absence of cabinet minutes from Welsh devolution's first major crisis (which engulfed Alun Michael's administration) - as revealed by @leightonandrews.bsky.social's substack #devolution #senedd
Crucial Welsh Government Cabinet minutes relating to a major crisis in the first year of devolution have gone missing, it has been revealed ✍️Martin Shipton
Cabinet meeting minutes covering devolution's first crisis have been ‘lost’
Martin Shipton Crucial Welsh Government Cabinet minutes relating to a major crisis in the first year of devolution have gone missing, it has been revealed. Former Labour Minister Leighton Andrews, now...
nation.cymru
January 6, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Interesting, for devolution anoraks/political historians, piece on the mystery absence of cabinet minutes from Welsh devolution's first major crisis (which engulfed Alun Michael's administration) - as revealed by @leightonandrews.bsky.social's substack #devolution #senedd
As revealed in my Substack yesterday….
Crucial Welsh Government Cabinet minutes relating to a major crisis in the first year of devolution have gone missing, it has been revealed ✍️Martin Shipton
Cabinet meeting minutes covering devolution's first crisis have been ‘lost’
Martin Shipton Crucial Welsh Government Cabinet minutes relating to a major crisis in the first year of devolution have gone missing, it has been revealed. Former Labour Minister Leighton Andrews, now...
nation.cymru
January 6, 2026 at 10:54 AM
As revealed in my Substack yesterday….
New from me on my Substack - the final days of the Alun Michael Cabinet.
January 5, 2026 at 10:24 AM
New from me on my Substack - the final days of the Alun Michael Cabinet.
A bonus post on my Substack following yesterday’s National Archive release.
December 31, 2025 at 9:07 AM
A bonus post on my Substack following yesterday’s National Archive release.
I've now read through the folder (PREM49-4066). There was considerable preparation for a possible referendum campaign on the EU Constitution, including conversations with pro-EU Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and analysis of the No campaign. One David Frost prepares a briefing for the FCO.
Also in today’s National Archives release is briefing for the PM in 2005 on setting up an EU Referendum Uniit.
December 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I've now read through the folder (PREM49-4066). There was considerable preparation for a possible referendum campaign on the EU Constitution, including conversations with pro-EU Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and analysis of the No campaign. One David Frost prepares a briefing for the FCO.
New post coming from me tomorrow....
December 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
New post coming from me tomorrow....
One for you @a-b-evans.bsky.social
It’s Christmas all over again for Welsh devolution historians.
December 30, 2025 at 11:54 AM
One for you @a-b-evans.bsky.social
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
It’s Christmas all over again for Welsh devolution historians.
December 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM
It’s Christmas all over again for Welsh devolution historians.
Also in today’s National Archives release is briefing for the PM in 2005 on setting up an EU Referendum Uniit.
December 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Also in today’s National Archives release is briefing for the PM in 2005 on setting up an EU Referendum Uniit.
It’s Christmas all over again for Welsh devolution historians.
December 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM
It’s Christmas all over again for Welsh devolution historians.
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
‘My books are on a list of works that have been illegally used in training data. Many more people’s work has been stolen without any evidentiary trail to show it.’
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 26, 2025 at 8:37 PM
‘My books are on a list of works that have been illegally used in training data. Many more people’s work has been stolen without any evidentiary trail to show it.’
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
For those interested in the history of Welsh #devolution, this is yet another fascinating piece of archival digging from @leightonandrews.bsky.social - this time charting the autumn of 1999, when the sharks were already circling Alun Michael's administration #senedd
December 9, 2025 at 6:56 AM
For those interested in the history of Welsh #devolution, this is yet another fascinating piece of archival digging from @leightonandrews.bsky.social - this time charting the autumn of 1999, when the sharks were already circling Alun Michael's administration #senedd
New post coming tomorrow www.ukania.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 9:19 PM
New post coming tomorrow www.ukania.substack.com
Please define Britishness:
November 25, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Please define Britishness:
Reposted by Leighton Andrews
Can you imagine how Reform UK would react if a Welsh leader of any other party had been sentenced for 10 years for taking bribes?
Nathan Gill once said he "would never apologise for being patriotic".
Tbf he never said to which country...
Nathan Gill once said he "would never apologise for being patriotic".
Tbf he never said to which country...
November 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Can you imagine how Reform UK would react if a Welsh leader of any other party had been sentenced for 10 years for taking bribes?
Nathan Gill once said he "would never apologise for being patriotic".
Tbf he never said to which country...
Nathan Gill once said he "would never apologise for being patriotic".
Tbf he never said to which country...
New from me www.ukania.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:08 AM
New from me www.ukania.substack.com
Remembering Sarge, eight years on.
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Remembering Sarge, eight years on.
on.ft.com/49B25Ne US election results live: Zohran Mamdani wins New York City as Democrats also take Virginia and New Jersey races
US election results live: Zohran Mamdani wins New York City as Democrats also take Virginia and New Jersey races
Results in off-year elections deliver rebuke to Donald Trump
on.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:50 AM
on.ft.com/49B25Ne US election results live: Zohran Mamdani wins New York City as Democrats also take Virginia and New Jersey races
on.ft.com/48Zd5E2 Don’t let Europe’s deregulatory temptations weaken its democracies
Don’t let Europe’s deregulatory temptations weaken its democracies
A good tech strategy would aim not just to catch up but to cultivate better alternatives
on.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:46 AM
on.ft.com/48Zd5E2 Don’t let Europe’s deregulatory temptations weaken its democracies